'charaben' on Serious Eats

[Photograph: bigdaikon.com] "These people hate Japan, bentos, especially charaben, and kids. They are English teachers in Japan. Surprising—not." http://bit.ly/7ZrCfk —@makiwi, referring to the forum this image was posted on There's some ugly sentiment in the discussion that Makiko Itoh (of Just Bento) links to in that tweet, but the Christmas-themed bento photo posted there is undeniably great. An Old Saint Nick made from rice, a hot dog reindeer, some other stuff I can't identify (is that an egg snowman?). What's not to love about this Japanese character bento (aka charaben)?... More